And we’re not talking about the catcher’s bases-loaded triple that gave the Padres the lead and trumped Alonso’s two, run-scoring singles in the Padres first visit to the new Marlins Park.

Grandal figures he had 170 family members and fans at the game. Alonso rented a suite but could directly account for only 50 to 60 members of the crowd of 23,161.

“You could hear my fans over his,” said Grandal. “But I’ll have 20 more people here Saturday and it will go up another 20 on Sunday, three figures,” said Alonso.

The rookies went home in style.

The Cuban natives, long-time Miami residents and University of Miami products each had a pair of clutch hits as the Padres defeated Miami 7-2.

Grandal put the Padres ahead with a three-run triple in the top of the sixth and Alonso snapped a 0-for-21 drought with a pair of run-scoring singles as the Padres overcame a 2-0 deficit to defeat Carlos Zambrano.

“That was great for those guys,” said Padres manager Bud Black. “They both had cheering sections. For them each to get a couple big hits made a lot of people happy.”

“That was fun, everything that I was hoping for,” said Alonso. “And it felt great to snap that 0-for. It’s a learning process . . . it feels like this entire year has been a learning process.”

The switch-hitting Grandal seems to be learning faster than most.

The Padres were trailing 2-1 when he came to the plate in the sixth against Zambrano with the bases loaded and no one out.

Logan Forsythe, hitting in the lead-off spot for the first time this season, doubled off the base of the fence in left to open the inning and advanced to third when Marlins second baseman Emilio Bonifacio couldn’t handle Jesus Guzman’s grounder for an error.

On back-to-back, full-count situations Zambrano then walked Chase Headley to load the bases and Carlos Quentin to force in the Padres first run and halve the Marlins' lead.

Grandal then drove the first pitch from Zambrano over the head of center fielder Justin Ruggiano, who took a step in before breaking back on the ball, which rolled all the way to the wall to the left of the 418-foot sign in center.

Grandal’s three-run drive gave the Padres a 4-2 lead and Alonso made it 5-2 with his first hit since last Friday.

“When I hit it, the ball looked like it was going straight and then it took off and faded away from him,” said Grandal. “My first thought when it sailed over his head was three bases.”

“Yaz hit a bullet,” said Black. “Another big hit for Yaz and better swings for Yonder.”

Grandal raised his average to .307 and has 14 RBI in his first 21 major league games. Alonso has 15 RBI over his last 20 games.

“What made it extra special is that this was my first game here,” said Grandal. “To me, this is holy ground . . . they built this beautiful ballpark on the ground of the old Orange Bowl. I have a huge sense of pride about this place.”